While I was on my way to school one morning, I heard that Harvey Weinstein had serious allegations made against him. He was being called out on national radio because society saw it as an opportunity to call out his poor behavior. This was the first time I had heard of a prominent figure enduring the effects of cancel culture. I saw this as a chance to give his victims a voice.
I am writing to you today to express concern over the spread of cancel culture as the movement has shifted away from its main intentions. As mentioned in the story above, I defined the moment that Harvey Weinstein got called out as the beginning of positive change. The origins of this culture are rooted in calling out poor behavior, which is a positive aspect because it brings attention to issues that are being neglected. The movement allows for people in society who lack powerful positions to have a voice. As social media plays a more prominent role in society, the movement has been able to stabilize through online communities. However, over time the movement has morphed into a culture that doesn’t give the canceled individual a chance to defend themselves. As it has changed, children of this generation are witnessing the negative effects.
The majority of children and young adults are using some form of social media, which means they solidify their digital footprint at an early age. This gives future employers and strangers the ability to have access to this information and use past ignorance as a way to cancel them. Furthermore, cancel culture has started to directly affect kids at school as it has become a prominent way of dealing with conflict. This causes emotional distress as kids don’t know how to deal with being “canceled”.
Instead of canceling certain individuals, society should be looking for alternate methods of dealing with serious social issues. People who engage in poor misconduct should be called out to show that the general population won’t tolerate this kind of behavior. However, people should be more mindful of the issues and people they wish to target.
Thanks for listening,
Selina Brown
